Brother Of Mine
by Rai-Child
Summary: …Because even the most flawless of fakes can’t ever be the real thing. EnvyEd. Oneshot. Character Death.


Brother Of Mine

Oneshot

By: Rai-Child

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or any of the characters.

Summary: …Because even the most flawless of fakes can't ever be the real thing. EnvyEd. Oneshot. Character Death.

Author's Note: _Second FMA oneshot… X3 Not bad, eh? I like this one more than Foul Play… Yeah. Enjoy!_

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Because of how it had started... Did it make it wrong? How it had all begun in the first place? Edward Elric could remember it well- even the finer details.

Death itself isn't a sin… 

Travel can do strange things to a person, and lack of sleep had finally taken its toll... Ed couldn't have stayed in that sleeping bag, battling his insomnia for much longer. He couldn't have watched the armoured figure that was Al stare out over the world below from the top of that cliff...

It was ridiculous. _Sleep._ He could distinctly remember needing it so badly, but why couldn't he reach it? What had been keeping him from it? He had fisted both hands in the thick material, the Automail fingers tearing through with a loud _rrriiiip..._ Al had flinched...

_"Nii-san?" Edward looked up, watching his younger brother shifting uncomfortably from his position. If the armour's expression could have looked apprehensive, Ed was sure it would have done at that very moment. "Is something wrong?"_

_"...No, Al." Edward sighed, knowing the younger Elric was completely unconvinced, "I just... Can't sleep..." Alphonse nodded, turning back to whatever was so interesting out there on the jagged horizon._

_"You hardly ever do these days, huh?"_

_"It's nothing to worry about."_

_"It's 'cause he's dying, isn't it?" The brothers knew of the stones, knew that they were some sort of key to life. The last time they had seen Envy, he had staggered off in the direction of nowhere in particular; several red fragments left behind in his wake. _'Don't touch them',_ Ed had told his brother, holding out an arm to stop Al from bending any closer._

_Gold eyes had lit up, as Edward knew he had found something vital._

_"What?"_

_"If he's losing the stones, then he must be."_

_"He'll still have some left. Still had enough _'energy' _left to try and kill us both, remember?"_

_"...I remember." Al's voice was quiet, even with that usual, tinny echo it always bore due to his prison. Ed looked down, turning to lie on his stomach, drawing nonsense in the dirt with a metal finger..._

_Something caught Al's eye._

_In one movement, the younger brother managed to lean forwards to peer down into the valley, and glance behind him to make sure Edward was still busy with whatever he was doing. The metal jaw tightened, behind it an annoyed hiss escaping._

_"Al?" Al jumped._

_"It's nothing... Just..." Ed looked at him oddly, his companion letting out a small sigh. "It's cold, isn't it?" It was more of a question than anything else. Of course Alphonse couldn't feel it- but he clearly heard the whistle of the wind as it battered them. It had started up the moment darkness fell. Edward shifted uncomfortably._

_"Uh..."_

_"Maybe... Maybe if... If I could just..."_

_Ed's jaw hung slack for a moment as pure shock rocked his system; he would have fell over himself had he not been lying down to begin with. Somewhere along the line Al had found his feet, painfully bright light suddenly sparking at his heels, rendering him a mere silhouette against the stormy sky..._

_His form was shrinking, altering, as if it had collapsed in on itself. The armour had clearly softened, leaving in its wake something altogether more _natural; _replaced by a mop of blonde hair, bright eyes, pale, perfect skin... Clothed, in some sort of childish ensemble consisting of a baggy shirt and shorts, coming just above a scraped knee, sticking plaster and all..._

_"W-wait..." The real form of Alphonse Elric stood before him, and all he could do was stumble over his words. And his sleeping bag, it seemed, as he struggled to his feet. "You... You can't..." And then it struck him. This was _not _his brother, or not the one he thought it was at least. This model was near-perfect, obviously cast from a younger version of Edward himself, albeit slightly taller..._

_It was not Al._

_His eyes were the wrong colour. Gold._

"Nii-san! I found the tent-roll! You must've dropped it at the foot of the-" _The childlike voice, edged as usual by that metallic echo, rang out from behind them, cut short as the figure's gaze fell on the creature before him..._

_"Al!" Edward half-screamed, waving both arms madly as if to direct attention away from the initial point of interest. "Don't look at it! _Don't look at it!_" '...Don't touch the nasty stones, don't look at what you can't have, not yet...' It would only hurt him. For once, Ed couldn't protect his brother from what he was seeing... The tent-roll dropped to the floor, a gasp audibly escaping the armour..._

_"It's..." Al's voice was weak, barely above a whisper._

_A rather inhuman scream escaped Edward as he turned on his Automail heel, promptly launching himself at the fake. Everything. Clicked. Into. Place._

"Monster!" _He made impact, sending them both tumbling back over the edge, sliding a little down the slope... Luckily the gradient didn't really turn vertical at that point, but they were dangerously close. Metres away. Ed dug his foot into the mountain side, making sure the hand that gripped the creature's throat was the metal one..._

_"What the hell are you doing?"_

_"Nii... Nii-s-san..." It was crying. _Crying. _Tears rolled from golden eyes as the figure, indeed just a child, gasped and writhed, pleading with his brother for mercy... "W-what are you doing? You're... You're choking... M-me..." A dribble of red had escaped the corner of his mouth, too thin to be blood. Even more proof of its true identity..._

_"How long had you been there?" Ed demanded, tightening his hold. A thin whine escaped the child's throat, squirming pitifully. "You saw him coming, didn't you? Thought it was time to mess with our heads!" He lifted the weaker figure by the shoulders, slamming him back into the dirt. He bent close enough to hiss in his ear... "Drop it, Envy..."_

_Edward looked up, to where the real Al was leaning over the edge, metallic features obviously tightened with worry... Still the elder brother did not release the struggling captive... The cries had suddenly stopped, replaced now by much louder yells and curses not meant to come from such an innocent voicebox…_

_"Nii-san?" The slightly hollow voice of his _real _brother was heaven in comparison to that of the painfully accurate fake. Ed nodded, still trying to catch his breath. Underneath it all, he was still seething with barely contained rage._

_"Al, I need you to do something..."_

-----

Edward had been spat at, kicked, cursed to the very depths of hell, scratched, bit, screamed at, insulted in every way possible... Of course, the numerous jibes at his height burned his ego the worst.

Back up on the relative safety of the cliff, a certain green-haired Homunculus found himself bound tightly at the wrists and ankles, rendered completely immobile and completely helpless, left to rely on his sharp tongue instead. Not that he hadn't put up one hell of a fight, judging by the current physical state of both of the Elrics... Al had obtained various new scratches to his breastplate and Ed's right eye was now darkly bruised, black setting into the pale skin.

Normally, it would have been all too easy for Envy. He would have just shifted into a smaller form, maybe something akin to Wrath's skinny frame, and slipped the ropes. However, at around the same time Edward had dragged him, now in his usual Homunculus form, back up to the top, Alphonse had been busy drawing up an intricate array of Alchemy symbols a little further back from the edge. Now, unceremoniously dropped directly on top of said symbols and bound so tightly he could barely breathe, the fact that he was unable to transform was just adding insult to injury.

"Al?"

"Uh?"

"Go and set up the tent." A pause. Alphonse got to his feet with a creak of limbs, giving his brother a worried glance over his shoulder. Still, he left, starting to untangle the tent just out of the way. Ed clearly didn't want him to see whatever he had planned- but the younger brother suspected bloody trauma at the very least.

The red fluid Edward that had seen before now stained the ground beneath Envy- some sort of life energy, like the stones in liquid form. He had finally stopped struggling, simply regarding his enemy with that usual look of pure hatred. He hissed like a threatened cat as Edward dropped to his knees next to him, his expression unreadable...

"Haven't got long, eh?"

"That's none of your business."

"Did I say I cared?" Envy's eyes narrowed as Ed sighed. "It's just... Interesting, that's all. Why you're not off recovering. Why no one has come for you."

"I don't need-"

"You're on your last legs, admit it. That's why you wouldn't shift back. Thought yourself 'safe' as Al, eh? Thought you could get to me without me retaliating?" Envy didn't respond, still fighting to keep his eyes open... "You know what? I actually feel sorry for you." The Sin recoiled.

_"What?"_

"You heard me. To go around pulling stunts like that. Still, I'll be glad to see you go, Envy."

"Feeling's mutual... Fullmidget... I hate you... I..." Another trickle of that strange liquid, this time leaking from the corner of his left eye... He faltered and jerked his head to one side, praying Ed hadn't seen it...

-----

Alphonse returned a while to find his brother and the Homunculus still out in the storm- rain had begun to fall and now both were soaked through. Ed looked up as he approached...

"Nii-san-"

"Yeah, I'm coming." Al shifted uncomfortably, twisting his fingers nervously before him...

"Um... What about..."

"Just leave him there. I had something to settle, that's all. He'll be the Gate's soon enough." Alphonse didn't seem convinced, but all the same he followed as his brother retreated away from the still figure, getting back to the cover of the tent. The effect of the symbols had gone as they themselves were washed away by the downpour, but still Envy had not moved. Violet eyes were open to slits, lips darkly bruised, unmoving.

_I had something to settle, that's all._

_He'll be the Gate's soon enough._

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_And yes, this one has been spellchecked… But sorry if there are any mistakes… 0.o; Review?_

Ally 


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